Transcript PresentIslam

How to present Islam
Definition of Da’wah:
Invitation . . to Islam
Is Da’wah obligatory on all of us?

Sura Asr (103)
Most surely man
is in loss, Except
those who believe
and do good, and
enjoin on each
other truth, and
enjoin on each
other patience.
Is Da’wah obligatory on all of us?


16:125 Invite all to the way of your
Lord with Hikmah (wisdom) and
beautiful preaching, and argue with
them in ways which are best . . .”
2:143 And thus We have made you a
medium (just) nation that you may be
the bearers of witness to the people
and (that) the Messenger may be a
bearer of witness to you; . . .
Is Da’wah obligatory on all of us?

And not alike are
the good and the
evil. Repel (evil)
with what is best,
when lo! he
between whom
and you was
enmity would be
as if he were a
warm friend.
Is Da’wah obligatory on all of us?
 Doing
da'wah and
amr bil ma'roof / nahy anil
munkar are ways of a believer
to reflect and take care of
himself, and to travel on the
path to His Lord.
THEN, WHY DOES ISLAM SAY THAT THERE IS
NO COMPULSON IN RELIGION? (2:256)

We invite people to the truth. (How our
Prophet invited others to Islam. This is where
our duty ends and we can pray to Allah for
their guidance. Any means of force,
compulsion, or deception attached to calling
others to the faith is against the purpose of
da'wah and the teachings and examples of
the prophets. We cannot use deception e.g.
(provide food and lodging to refugees) and
expect them to follow our religion out of
obligation.
Excuses for not doing Da’wah:
I am not a scholar
 I am not religious (first I have to be
religious, then only can I work on
others . . .)
 Religion is a personal thing
 Not enough time
 May lose friends or job
 I feel embarrassed
 I will do it when I am old

Excuses for not doing Da’wah con’t . .
Might get hurt (O you who believe! take care
of your souls; he who errs cannot hurt you
when you are on the right way; to Allah is
your return, of all (of you), so He will inform
you of what you did).
(the aya commands the mu'mineen to be
steadfast and to take care of their
souls/selves, and to not be affected by those
who are misguided, and to Allah is the
eventual destination)

Excuses for not doing Da’wah cont . .

You mix with those who are misguided
and you yourself will become tainted.
You may destroy yourself in trying to
save others from destruction.

Allah would have guided them if He
would have wanted to.
Intention

For the sake of Allah
Characteristics
(non-Muslims look at people, not religion)

Good listener

Soft spoken and kind & gentle (never curses)
3:159 Thus it is due to mercy from Allah that you
deal with them gently, and had you been rough,
hard hearted, they would certainly have
dispersed from around you;

Never lies or breaks promises.
Surat al-saff sura 61 verses 2-3 “O you who
believe! why do you say that which you do not
do? It is most hateful to Allah that you should say
that which you do not do.
Characteristics cont . .
 Good
student, employer, employee,
customer, citizen, husband,
son/daughter
 Patient
 Optimistic
 Goes
out of the way to help
What should you know?








Clear concept of Tawheed (Oneness of
Allah) and be able to explain it
Able to prove Qur’an is a Divine Book
Prove Oneness of Allah from Qur’an, Bible
and logic
Prove the Prophet hood of Prophet
Muhammad (saw)
Able to give a clear view of Islam
Memorize references from the Qur’an, Bible
and Vedas
Islamic History, World History, current
events, statistics on moral decline of the
western society
Be able to prove that Islam is a guidance for
all mankind and a complete way of life
How do you start it?
Pray to Allah for success
 Appearance (how you look) invites questions
 In conversation, see issues religiously
Do/say things that invite questions:
 At prayer time, say “I know have to go for
prayers”
 Say “As-Salaamu alaikum” audibly and
clearly upon meeting a fellow Muslim
 If you sneeze, say Al-Hamdu lillah audibly
and clearly
 If a non-Muslim sneezes, say “May Allah
guide you”
 Say Insha Allah when talking about the
future

Caution

Do not those who believe know
that, had Allah willed, He could
have guided all mankind? As for
those who disbelieve, disaster
ceases not to strike them because
of what they do, or it dwells near
their home until the threat of Allah
come to pass. Lo! Allah fails not to
keep the meeting.
This is one of the reasons why we
shouldn't occupy ourselves overly
much with the destiny of those who
are misguided.
About da'wah in shi'a viewpoint:
It is an important concept in shi'ism as well but
it is treated differently than it is with sunnis.

With typical sunnis, they believe that you
have to convince someone of the truth.
Some of the extremist sunnis, like the
wahhabis, believe that you can even force
someone to accept the truth. Regarding the
verse la ikraaha fi al-deen (there is no
compulsion religion), they believe it has
been abrogated. This may explain the
behavior of the Saudi government in
imposing their rigid interpretation of Islam
upon their residents.
About da'wah in shi'a viewpoint:
provide information
 be there as a resource
 participate at gatherings - town
meetings and interfaith discussions.
 very important point in shi'a da'wah is
that we believe hidayah, or the
guidance to accept islam, is ONLY
given by Allah (swt).
 pray to Allah to grant someone
hidayah, but the actual grant is from
Allah (swt).

About da'wah in shi'a viewpoint:

many ahadeeth say that you shouldn't
get into arguments about matters of
faith because its not good for your
spiritual growth.

present a point of view, but do not be
overly hard to convince the person
who's listening -- the truth should
stand for itself. This applies even with
our discussions with sunnis.
The End